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Data analysis workaround for ‘Optoelectronics„ research

projects course at THz Photonics Lab

Dr. Mindaugas Karaliūnas

THz Photonics Lab.
Department of Optoelectronics
Center for Physical Sciences and Technology
Saulėtekio Av. 3, Room 114,
10257 Vilnius, Lithuania
Phone: +37061141337
e-mail: mindaugas.karaliunas@ftmc.lt

Abstract—This technical note describes the data analysis workaround

for interferograms measured using interferometer to obtain fast Fourier
transform spectra. It is the working horse of Fourier transform spec-
troscopy technique employed on regular basis at the THz Photonics
Lab for spectral analysis. The information here is worth to get familiar
with before the experiment in the lab and also after the measurements
Fig. 1. Diagram for data analysis technique in the frame of Fourier transform
when working with acquired data. For numerical data treatment the
spectroscopy applied on the interferograms measured using spectrometer
main steps of analysis are pointed out and additional comments are also
Nicolet 8700.
provided. After reading this note students will be able to perform the
numerical data analysis on their own utilizing fast Fourier transformation
for spectroscopy, self-check their results and deliver scientifically valuable
research. The default parameters can be used for FFT and it results with number
of datasets that are the output of FFT. Among the FFT datasets the
useful for now are |F, P | datasets, where |F | refers to frequency
I. I NTRODUCTION
(firs column as x axis values) and |P | refers to FFT Power, which is
In this stage of the research project data analysis have to be the square of FFT Magnitude. Now the scaling of dataset |F | needs
performed. Working with raw experimental data it is very important to be accomplished using the data spacing s value known form the
to follow the acceptable data treatment procedures. On one hand, experiment (check your notes and see Table I). This value depends
the data analysis can cause the data corruption which leads to on the resolution that was set during the measurements. To rescale
misinterpretation of the results and then to faulty conclusions. On the dataset |F | use
the other hand, the creative and thinking-outside-the-box approach
to data analysis opens the new dimension for data interpretation and |F |s
leads to new discoveries. In other words, data analysis techniques |W | = , (2)
(fn − fn−1 )
are the keys to unlock the information about the subject under study.
However, any kind of treatment of raw experimental data alters it and where fn is any element in the dataset |F | and |W | are the new
as a rule some information gets lost. Hopefully, not the important one. dataset containing wavenumber of light in cm−1 . Then one may want
The data analysis techniques used in the research project are to separate (copy and paste) the datasets |W, P | to new worksheet
already well-established and conventional therefore safe to use. As for the convenience in further use. Now the datasets can be cut out
it was told before, the fast Fourier transform (FFT) operation is between 50 and 600 cm−1 within recommended (trustful) spectral
a numerical procedure available as a standard function within any range leaving out the useless excess data. The aforementioned data
scientific data analysis software, such as Jupyter Notebook, QtiPlot, analysis technique is illustrated in the diagram Fig. 1.
Octave, Matlab, Scilab or Origin (do not use Excel). However,
the problem arises when the spectral range needs to be defined
for FFT Power spectra in order to maintain the calibration of the
interferometer, i.e. spectrometer. 6 ZPD
In this technical note, the necessary information required for data
analysis starting from measured interferograms and finishing with 4
FFT spectra in the right spectral range for further interpretation of
results is briefly provided. 2
Signal (V)

II. T ECHNIQUE 0
Import the data from files to data analysis software. The imported
interferograms are the two datsets |X, Y |, where |X| contains the −2
position (dimensionless) and |Y | contains the voltage generated by
detector (in volts) also called as signal. Choose the |Y | column and −4
apply the FFT algorithm which is usually can be found among Signal
processing tools. What actually is done in the background can be −6
found in the book by Griffiths and de Haseth [?]. After the FFT 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
applied on the interferogram I(X, Y ) we get the spectrum as a new 3
Position, x10
datasets S(F, P ).
FFT
Fig. 2. Interferogram with the resolution of 2.0 contains 32768 data points
I(X, Y ) ==⇒ S(F, P ). (1) with increment of 1 from 0 to 32767.

III. R ESULTS
The measured interferogram imported from the datafile is shown in
Fig. 2. It was measured with resolution 2.0 and contains fN = 32767
position counts starting from f1 = 0, i.e. the size of the dataset |X|
is N = 32768. After the FFT on the signal |Y | we get new dataset
|F | from |X| and dataset |P | from |Y |. If one look at the dataset
|F | it starts from 0, ends with the value 0.49997 with the increment
fn − fn−1 = 3.0518 × 10−5 . Also one can notice that dataset |F |
contains 16384 position counts, which is N/2, where N is the initial
size of |X|. It is the result of folding negative part of the spectrum
which is exact mirror reflection of positive part. Note, that Origin
software folds negative part automatically, therefore it is no need to
think about it. For the rescale of the spectral range apply Eq. (2)
with the s = 0.964 (see Table I). The FFT power |P | dependence
on wavenumber |W | is shown in Fig. 3. Now the spectral analysis
can be performed by assignment of spectral features, such as peaks,
dips and slopes, to wavenumbers and their intervals which in turn
can be recalculated to energy (in meV) or frequency (in THz) and
compared with results found in scientific literature. Note, that before
analysis, the spectrum of the sample has to be divided from reference
spectrum to eliminate the spectral features of spectrometer itself.
IV. D ISCUSSION
Although the data processing technique is briefly introduced in
section II, this section is dedicated to explain the matter in detail. The
data acquisition step was introduced and studied during the working
hours in the lab. Now the measured interferograms are stored in files
as two column numerical data. First column |X| contains the position
of movable mirror in the interferometer expressed as the dataset of
integer numbers. One can think the dimension of this quantity as a
step count of step-motor that moves the mirror back and forth. At
each step the voltage generated by light on the detector is measured
and signal value is stored in the second column |Y |. One can import
the data into one of the many data analyzing softwares. All provide
the FFT tool for numerical fast Fourier transformation of data among
other standardized signal processing tools.
After the FFT is applied on the signal, it results more datasets
in several columns but for now the useful information is the first
column named “Frequency” with dataset dataset |F | (named by
default, but in our case it is the reciprocal of distance the mirror
inside the interferometer have moved) and another column with the
“FFT Power” dataset |P |.
Now very important step is the scaling of the spectral range which
is found in the dataset |F |. In this step the calibration of the spectral
range is accomplished and if it is done correctly the spectral features
that is found in the spectra can be compared with other scientific
works available in literature. There are few ways to do the scaling.
Here two examples are described.
One straight-forward and easy-to-understand method would be
to recalculate the dataset |X| before the FFT. As it was already
mentioned before that |X| dataset represents step count of step-motor
that moves the mirror when measuring the interferogram. It does not
TABLE I
S OME RESOLUTION AND CORRESPONDING DATA SPACING VALUES USED
IN THE EXPERIMENTS .
Resolution Data spacing s
(n/a) (cm−1 )
0.5 0.241
1.0 0.482
2.0 0.964
4.0 1.928
2
5×104
Reference spectrum:
Eq. (2)
FFT Power (arb. units)
Eq. (3)
4×104
3×104
2×104
104
0
100 200 300 400 500 600
Wavenumber (cm-1)
Fig. 3. FFT power as a function of wavenumber in the range from 50 cm−1
to 600 cm−1 . Blue spectrum is scaled using Eq. (2) and red spectrum is
scaled using Eq. (3) resulting shift of the spectrum on purpose to illustrate
the impact of inexact scaling.
have the dimension of length in cm. However, if the length of the
path that mirror travels l is known it is easy to set the dimension to
the dataset |X|
l
|L| = |X| (3)
xN − x0
in [cm], where |L| is new rescaled dataset in cm, x0 and xN are
the first and the last values of dataset |X|. If one alters the |X|
dataset to |L| before applying the FFT it changes the |F | dataset
of processed signal to |W | which caries the wavenumber dimension
cm−1 . Although this approach is logical and easy to follow it does
not lead to very exact result, i.e. the spectrum is shifted in the spectral
range as it is shown in Fig. 3 (see red curve). The main cause of the
error here is the length l which is unknown and there is no easy way
to calculate it from the experimental parameters.
Therefore, much more exact workaround for scaling is to use the
data spacing parameter provided with the resolution of the exper-
iment. The resolution was set before the measurement. The typical
resolution values used throughout the experiment are listed in Table I
together with corresponding data spacing s values. This quantity
already carries the dimension of reversed centimeters, i.e. cm−1 , and
it depends on the resolution. The data spacing is the step between two
adjacent points in the dataset |F | which is being FFT of dataset |X|.
Therefore, when the data spacing is known one can recalculate the
dataset |F | to the spectral range |W | using Eq. (2). Then the spectrum
is calibrated with precision of 3 significant figures (hundreds of
reversed centimeters). Note, that other processing algorithms are
applied on the FFT spectra to improve it’s resolution and eliminate
ghost features (i.e. artifacts). One technique for example is called
apodization [?] and have number of options depending on the function
is used. However, it is already beyond the scope of this work.
V. C ONCLUSIONS
For conclusion, the critical step in the data processing is the scaling
of dataset which defines the spectral range of the signal. Inexact
scaling leads to the shift of spectrum and assigned spectral features
in data analysis will lead to misinterpretation. The best method to
scale the spectral range is to use data spacing on dataset after the
FFT was applied on interferogram.